Ancestors is a nineteen volume anthology providing fictional accounts of the lives of one of the long lines of my ancestors. The line through my French ancestors, the Charrons and Ducharmes, is told through the eyes of my actual ancestors, dating back to Pierre Charron, born in Meaux, France around 1448. Sixteen generations of real people are fictionalized, from Pierre to me (although my account is not fiction, other than the points I have chosen to shamelessly embellish). Pierre was my 14^th Great Grandfather. In the series the two generations before Pierre, his father and grandfather, are made up, though the historical events their stories are built upon were real. They easily could have participated in or at least been witness to the Battle of Azincourt and the capture and trial of Joan of Arc. Prior to that, the series skips back twenty odd generations to the 10^th century, when another a very distant ancestor of mine, Hrólfur Rögnvaldsson, encountered a Frankish maid, while he was between sieges of Paris, and fathered a bastard child, who became the first of the Charron line, depicted in this series. Hrólfur was my real 29^th great grandfather, from the Icelandic side of my family. He was known by many names: Wendafoot; Göngu-Hrólfur; Gaange Rolf; Rollon; and was most famously known as Rollo, the Viking who terrified multitudes in the French kingdoms of the day. Of course, it is highly implausible that Hrólfur actually sired my French line, but it makes an interesting story and it connects two sides of my lineage at a time and place where they could have (however implausible) come together. Here is the list of the Ancestors:

Göngu-Hrólfur Rögnvaldsson (Rollo) – (abt. 846 – abt. 931)

About 20 intermediate generations

Gillet Charron born abt. 1380 -1415

Robert Charron born abt. 1415

Pierre Charron (1448 – 1500)

Pierre ‘Le Fils’ Charron (abt. 1485 – 15 Oct 1543)

Gilles Charron (abt. 1515 – 09 Jan 1582)

Etienne Charron (1545 – 29 Oct 1610)

Gilles ‘l’aine’ Charron (1580 – 1651)

Pierre ‘l’aine Charron (Jan 1607 – 05 Jun 1638)

Pierre Nicholas ‘Le Jeune’ Charron (21 Oct 1635 – 25 Dec 1700)

Francois Charron-dit-Ducharme (02 Jun 1678 – 29 Mar 1746)

Jean Charron-dit-Ducharme (26 Jan 1715 – 25 May 1794)

Charles Charron-dit-Ducharme (abt. 1737 – 04 Mar 1804)

Antoine Charron-dit-Ducharme (05 Sep 1777 – 31 Dec 1850)

Jean Baptiste Ducharme (06 Jan 1813 – abt. 1885)

Pierre Ducharme (02 Jun 1867 – 22 Mar 1939)

Clarinda Ducharme (09 Feb 1912 – 31 Mar 1937)

Mary (Helen) Wong (22 Aug 1935 – 09 Apr 2004)

W.H. (Wade) Johnson (12 Nov 1953 –  alive & well)